It looks like a number of elite schools are banding together to change the way admissions is done. Of special note are the new forms of interaction with potential students, often well before they are seniors.
Also
http://chronicle.com/article/80-Selective-Colleges-Unveil/233459/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
I just worry that kids will start panicking even earlier… this sounds like a big change.
That was my first thought too @donnaleighg. My second thought was I’m glad the only kid I have left at home is not elite college material!
As the parent of a college junior, I’d love to know when this will be implemented. Having to scramble to put together a portfolio retroactively seems like one more burden during a year that is already pretty full.
My first thought was also that this will just start the college admission pressure freshman year.
The ivys were looking into this, having sent out a RFP a year ago.
** And to clarify, lest anyone misread the thread title, the common app isnt going anywhere, its that these schools (so far 80 and counting) are going to a new platform.
The article says that it will exist in parallel with the common app, and they expect most to still use the common app in the beginning. But still I worry the pressure will be to “show that you have that portfolio” to stand out. Glad my kids are already in/done with college (both at schools on the list)
I feel sorry for the admissions committee members from the universities adopting this who will have to read 4 years worth of information submitted by the applicants. Essays from 9th grade … yikes!
@GnocchiB Colleges aren’t going to intake more material – this is going to be a platform where students can load up potential source material once app season arises. It’s not just a big folder dump.
The article quoted one college who thinks that if even 15% of future applicants use this new vehicle, it’ll be a success. The existing Common App isn’t at its death throes at all.
I do not see how this will level the playing field OR reduce the stress of the admissions process. The fact that the portfolio includes real school work does not necessarily mean anything is easier for the underprivileged. It seems to me that the better high schools will now carefully tailor certain essay assignments for potential college consumption, while other schools will continue business as usual. Having to maintain a profile from 9th grade on makes the process even more cumbersome and labor-intensive than it already is and therefore the admissions landscape will continue to favor children who have access to adult support.
Scary, and many of the schools to which my junior plans to apply are on the list. Ugh.
I see a two-tiered system of some sort. Also, this system is purportedly to get more lower-income students who may be disadvantaged using the current college application process using the Common App. I don’t know if I buy that argument. I see wealthier students using this method, those who will have a portfolio of activities and opportunities in ninth grade. By requiring private schools to meet full need and all schools to have 70% six year graduation rates, this will definitely separate the elite schools from the mere mortal schools. Articles just say “for now” coalition schools will be using both systems; some as early as fall of 2016.
I’m so glad my kids are done with college admissions. For the life of me I can’t see how this will this help students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Students from school systems with poor college advising will just fall further behind, as many will surely not know that they must now start creating an admission portfolio beginning in 9th grade. So now it’ll be four years of anxiety and stress, instead of one or two.
“Organizers of the new effort hope it will minimize some of the disadvantages faced by high school students without access to well-staffed guidance offices or private counselors.”
No love lost here for the common app, but one thing I will say - as a home education parent - is that it is MUCH easier (and smarter) to keep up with everything your student does year by year as opposed to trying to wade back through it all and figure out how your student stands out in some unique way.
Working on my son’s transcript, I realized that I had forgotten a very special EC that he did a couple of years ago (not that that was on the transcript). I would be sad to not have him talk about it in some way because he enjoyed it so much, and learned a great deal. How that slipped off my radar is beyond me, but it happens - especially after 2-3 years.
The portfolio is just a tool, a way for a kid to to organize (over the years,) separate from customizing the app itself. Aiui.
This won’t really affect seniors such as me that are applying this year, will it?
@rjp456 No, it won’t happen this year and not even likely next year.
The article said that colleges that routinely gap students won’t be allowed to use this app, so maybe it will help low income families weed out what are likely to be unaffordable schools before they even apply.
It’s hard to see how this will help low-income students if they attend mediocre high schools where they don’t have to write weighty papers. If we actually examine the content of high school work, that has to inflate the advantage of prep schools that have the kids doing more sophisticated work. I wonder how they plan to account for this.
I see it as payback for C4, never again to be at the mercy of a company or a glitch.
Penn State is on the list, and public universities part of the group aren’t allowed to gap instate students, right? Does it mean they’re changing their FA policies, because right now Penn State most definitely gaps instate students.
I’m not sure I understand the big deal here. My kids did not use the common application at all when they applied to colleges. Each school had its own unique application. Really it was no big deal.
Maybe this will keep kids from applying to 20 colleges…which I think is a huge amount.